Menu

NOSARA AS HOME AND SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT GRINGOS AND TICOS

Kristelle Love is the Operations manager at Nosara B&B Retreat. She is a beautiful and gifted young woman who studied hospitality in France where she grew up. Her mother is French and her father American, so she has experienced different cultures.

It is wonderful to have Kristelle on the Nosara B&B Retreat team as she is passionate about the vision and her work and truly sees Nosara as home. Kristelle lived in Nosara when she was fifteen, sixteen and then again at eighteen.

“I was on a journey and traveled around the world looking for home. I regret I didn’t come back earlier because I found my home here a long time ago. I lived for one month 1999 in San Jose with my father. I didn’t like it there so much.

“Soon after I moved to Nosara. I met friends and discovered a whole new world. I was having a whole lot of fun surfing, dancing and spending time on the beach. As a teenager, it was amazing being here. I always felt at home. Because of the type of life I had, I’d never felt that before.

“The way this place, Nosara, makes me feel, the relationships I’ve created, the way of living fits for me. Being close to nature and being more relaxed allows you to be more in touch with yourself. But it has also changed since those times. There are more foreigners. I need to build new relationships and create new routines now.

Before I knew all the Gringos in the village. Now I live with a Tico, Juan Carlos! Nosara has grown, but it’s still Nosara! Only people who live here understand that special something, it’s hard to put your finger on it. It’s what makes people want to come back and make a living here.

Some people struggle to stay here, they do so because it’s worth it. The culture, the Latin music is amazing! I love to dance and it’s incredible to share this passion with Juan Carlos. I also enjoy Tico food.

The people are so nice. In other places I’ve visited in my world travels, at times It was hard to connect with the locals. Even with just a little Spanish, you can always find a way to communicate with the people here.

“People here are always happy to share. If there’s enough for two, there’s enough for three! Where there is poverty, people know the value of things. They work so hard to put food on the table.

In a way I feel people here have been polluted by modernity. Now the kids all want I-pods, cell phones, certain brands of clothes. It was more innocent before. I hope people don’t lose their authenticity because that’s what they have, authenticity.

“Before everyone was mixed. There was no separation of Ticos and Gringos and there wasn’t so much frustration. Now I can hear and feel frustration. Now there’s a real separation. Often I feel some Ticos wouldn’t go to Guiones if they weren’t working there. One reason is that they can’t afford anything there. Even a beer is too expensive for them. Tico bars and restaurants should be advertised more because the tourists don’t even know about them.

The surfer community is mixed, which is great. I think because some Gringos don’t hang out much with Ticos they have the impression that Ticos just want to take advantage of them.

Ticos see Gringos have businesses and make money and feel that they just work like slaves. If Ticos were more included in big projects and made to feel they have potential like any human being, maybe they would have the hope to start their own business and become successful.

“One of the difficulties is Ticos often weren’t raised to see their own potential. If we want to help, if we decided to live here and be part of the place and enjoy all it offers, we may want to give something back. One way is to help locals be more successful and to change their vision. Ticos often feel it’s all about money, but actually that’s not all that’s involved. It’s important for them to see what talents they have to create something, for example, food, wood-work, or dancing.

“Some people are already doing that, starting their own businesses, but there could be more. I know it’s easier said than done, but I’d love to see more of that happening. I don’t like when Gringos criticize Ticos. It would be more constructive to put themselves in the shoes of those they judge. What if it was the other way around?

“Robbery is terrible but if I don’t have much and all these people come and build big houses, have TVs, and all kinds of stuff it’s a difficult situation. Maybe if Ticos were made more part of the greater community they could see the possibility to create things in a different way.

“More education in the schools about what is right and wrong might be helpful. Lack of education is a big problem in rural areas which may be why people spend so much time talking about everyone else’s business. With all these issues, it’s still the place that is home for me and I want to do what I can to make it even better.